← Chapter 2: The Journey to the Old Old Earth
Chapter Three: The Romance of Jwindz's Kingdom
In this chapter, the Chinese backgrounds in Cordwainer Smith's short fictions are discussed. There are quite a few instances. Some are easy to detect; some are converted and hidden and more difficult to discover. One has been revealed by previous scholars, and a particular one is acknowledged by Smith himself. Hence I would like to start from it.
In the 'Prologue' of his collection Space Lords, Smith reveals that
However, these two schemes vary in many ways. In 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell', Lord Jestocost and E'telekeli plan to bring C'mell to a summons. By taking advantage of her naivety and innocence, they make other Lords investigate evidences through the Bell as C'mell alleges that some inter-world crimes had taken place, hence E'telekeli can use telepathy to locate 'a list of checkpoints and escape routes which would make it easier to hide from the capricious sentence of painless death which human authorities meted out'[2], and thus save a great number of underpeople's lives. Of course, C'mell's good performance in the court is so persuasive that other Lords start to operate the Bell and the Bank, and thus gives an opportunity for E'telekeli, whose consciousness takes control of her body to perform the main job. But the entire conspiracy has little to do with C'mell's characteristics of being a girlygirl. While in the famous 連環計 'Chain Scheme' in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the heroine's allurement is extremely critical to the whole conspiracy. Take a look of the dialogue between the plotter, Governor 王允 Wang, Yun and the household singing girl, 貂蟬 Tiaoch'an (Diao-Chan in Pinyin) or Sable Cicada, in which Wang analyses the situation and reveals the intrigue:
Alan C. Elms claims that 'the several stories of Quest of the Three Worlds borrow lightly from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms'[4] in one of his essays in Extrapolation in 2001; actually, he has made this assertion in his introduction to the NESFA edition of Norstrilia, where he mistakes the title of this Chinese novel as Quest of the Three Kingdoms[5]. Elms's confidence might lie in the titles of both works: Smith's 'three worlds' is corresponding to Lo's 'three kingdoms'. However, in my opinion, the connection of these two is rather weak. Casher O'Neill's adventures in these three stories are narrated one after another, and there are not further interactions between these three planets except O'Neill himself. On the contrary, the plots of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms are much more complicated. It narrates the confrontations between warlords of Han Dynasty from the late second century; after several decades there were still three remaining, and each of them became an independent kingdom (empire would be more suitable since the leaders are crowned as 'emperors'). Such an enormous historical setting consists hundreds of characters and themes, and it is necessary for the author to switch back and forth between the subplots even in one chapter.
The only link between these two works may be the identities of protagonists. Casher O'Neill is a nephew to Kuraf, the ex-ruler of the sand planet Mizzer. After Colonel Wedder overthrew his uncle's reign and became a tyrant, O'Neill always seeks for 'justice'. Finally he obtains the knowledge and ability of Agatha Madigan from T'ruth, faces Wedder and does not kill but 'changes' him instead. But from there he finds out his true destination and goes on a religious journey to the Quel of the Thirteenth Nile. On the other hand, 劉備 Liu, Pei (Liu, Bei in Pinyin), one of the main characters in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, devotes himself to a mission somewhat similar to O'Neill's. Liu is usually respected as 'Uncle of the Emperor', and his wish is to recover the imperial power and reintegrate the empire which has been dismembered by various warlords. But all he could achieve in his entire life is to control one fourth of the land and oppose two other kingdoms. Otherwise, it is difficult to connect Quest of the Three Worlds to the Chinese novel.
'When the People Fell' is probably the one among Smith's stories whose Chinese background can be detected by readers the most easily. Not only because Smith himself uses several Chinese terms such as 'Goonhogo', 'nondies', 'needies', 'showhices' and 'loudies' with explanations, but also due to the fact that this story is about Chinese or 'Chinesian' people. This story narrates the Chinese invasion of Venus in a special way. The government dropped eighty-two million people, no matter male, female or children, down to the land of Venus in a single day. '[I]t wouldn't have mattered if seventy million of them had died. Twelve million survivors would have been enough to make a spacehead for the Goonhogo.'[6] Taking advantage of enormous popularity in the war could be a fixed image of China. However, it is in fact a kind of tragedy, for the reason that human lives are thus expendable.
The Chinese had been suffered from invasions and civil wars since the second half of the nineteenth century. Even though the 清 Qing Emperor was overthrown in 1912, the situation could be even worse. The entire nation was never under the control of a single official government but dismembered by warlords. The conflicts between the Nationalists and Communists plus the continuous invasions of Japan prevent the country from being developed. For the Chinese, the Second World War started on the seventh of July 1937, the time when Chinese troops fought against the Japanese at Marco Polo Bridge. To confront a newly rising military power, China could depend only on her massive territory and the largest population in the world. Both factors entangled Japanese armies so that the Chinese is able to wait until the United States defeated their enemy on the Pacific Ocean. This strategy certainly cost very much. Besides his family's deep connection to Chinese politics, Paul Linebarger spent a great part of his youth in China, and he himself participated in World War II in China again, all these extraordinary experiences make him not only be aware of China's crises and the ordeals of Chinese people but also have sympathy for them. So a great portion of the descriptions in this story very possibly come from Smith's personal observation during the war. And he knows pretty well that this sacrifice, though it is 'crazy and impossible', is the only means for China to win, even when in an invasion. However, he also points out one of the astonishing defects of Chinese people right after the terrible victory:
It is worth noticing that this topic can easily become a sort of 'Yellow Peril' writing even though Smith is unlikely to build the story in this way. Since an invasion with unarmed but massive population is almost impossible to defend; the invaded countries cannot kill them all for the sake of humanity, and then they are soon to be conquered for sure. Chinese writer 保密 Bao Mi's (a pen name which means 'confidential') 黃禍 The Yellow Peril (1991), a political prediction novel in respond to Tian-An-Men Massacre in 1989, has such a theme after China had been nuked. Hundreds of millions of Chinese refugees swarm into other counties via land or sea; the globe is completely swallowed.
Of course, Cordwainer Smith does not compose sad stories only. He also writes in a satirical tone to make fun or criticise attitudes and customs of Chinese people. There are two examples of parody in his science fiction. The first I would like to discuss is 'Western Science Is So Wonderful', a standalone short story unrelated to The Instrumentality of Mankind. There is a Martian/Demon/Arhat in the southwest of China making every effort to learn Western science. And this story depicts his second encounter with a German Russian and some Chinese communists. It is obvious that Smith here is making fun of the 'commies', such as the Martian's transformation into Chairman Mao's appearance and the reaction of both the Russian officer Farrer and the Party Secretary Kungsun after they heard that the Martian would like to join the Chinese Communist Party. It is for sure that Linebarger acquainted himself with Communism pretty well, though he always chose the other side to support the Nationalists. According to John J. Pierce, Linebarger had once had 'radical leanings' while the Nationalists still cooperated with the Communists; and his father just gave him a birthday trip to Leningrad to stop his sympathetic feeling to Communism[8]. During the Second World War, when Linebarger worked as the US Army's liaison with the Chinese secret service, he also visited the headquarters of the Communists and made friends with their leaders[9]. In spite of teasing the communists, to me the descriptions of Chinese characters, especially their attitudes to the western science and ideology (it is exact Communism here) are more interesting.
The Martian represents those who had witnessed the 'incredible power' of anything from 'advanced countries' and would like to learn more, but they do not know that the technology or skill they had seen could be trivial; what is more, they might disapprove of what they have, even if it is better than what they are pursuing. In the story, he is attracted by merely an American lighter and seeks for chances 'to learn all about Western science'[10]. But just like Kungsun points out, the Martian cannot help but keep changing shapes. This behaviour can not only ruin the morale of any class, like what Kungsun has said, but also shows that the Martian lacks the concentration and diligence for learning, which is not expressed in the story. At last the Martian does go to the United States but only changes into a gold milk truck self-driving all around; certainly he achieves nothing about science.
Comrade Captain Li is another image of ordinary people. They do not have great ambition, nor do they become the defender of ideology. They are just simple. All they seek is a steady life, and if there is a possibility to shirk their duties a little bit, it could be even better. Take Li for example, 'Two square meals a day and an endless succession of patriotic farm girls, preferably chubby ones, represented his view of a wholly liberated China'[11]. To him, it does not matter who the boss is, what the ideology is appointed to believe, he just wants to be a small captain, and what is more, it is 'safer'. This mindset is held by most of the Chinese people, since in the long history of China, only in a few short periods the masses could live a prosperous life, so that they always look coldly at the rise and decline of the ones, say emperors, generals, nationalists, and communists, who promise to fulfil this wish at first but corrupt themselves soon after holding the power.
Party Secretary Kungsun is still another stereotype. In imperial China, these people are intellectuals looking for opportunities to become scholar officials. A great number of them are very typical snobs. They look down on the general masses and people from lower classes like Comrade Captain Li, but try very hard to please those who are superior to them with awe. Readers can observe this from Kungsun's first reaction when he sees the Martians in disguise of Chairman Mao:
Though the Instrumentality appears in 'From Gustible's Planet', it is more adequate to treat it as a standalone moral drama. The sarcasm in this comic story is quite straightforward. The Apicians, an alien race who are originated from Gustible's planet and look like enormous ducks, come to Earth as freeloaders. They happily consume all kinds of delicious food, and take advantage of human beings with their special telepathic power to freeze people. There are Roman connections with gourmets: the word 'gustible' has its root in Latin 'gustis', which means 'taste'[15], and 'Apician' comes from 'Apicius', a famous Roman name held by three people, the most noted one is Marcus Gavius Apicius, a glutton who left cookbooks and recipes to later generation[16]. However, the consequence of Apicians is definite Chinese. While the Apicians enjoy lady Ch'ao's (a Chinese descendent) feast in a traditional Chinese pavilion, a tragedy happens. The whole building is on fire; all the aliens escape but their leader Schmeckst.
Smith uses miscellaneous settings with Chinese background as well. Unlike the Chinese elements I have discussed before, these settings have little to do with the main plots, but still provide an amazing and mysterious atmosphere, adding intrigues or interests to the stories.
The one readers can tell from the story title is 'The Fife of Bodidharma'. Smith even adds a translation of a chapter from 論語 The Analects (Lun Yu) to intensify the Chinese flavour: 'Music (said Confucius) awakens the mind, propriety finishes it, melody completes it' (Smith's emphasis)[19], even though it is unrelated to the plot. The Chinese element here is 達摩 Bodidharma, the first ancestor of the School of Chinese Zen Buddhism. In fact, Bodidharma is not a Chinese but Buddhist monk from South India. He arrived in China around 520 AD. There are several legends about Bodidharma, including his interview with 梁武帝 the Wu Emperor of Liang Dynasty, crossing Yangtze River by standing on merely one reed, meditation against a wall for as long as nine years, and being the first kung-fu master of 少林寺 Shaolin Temple (not in real history but in popular emprise world). However, none of these tales depict that Bodidharma owns a fife artefact. Therefore it is probably Smith's creation.
The 'manikin, electro-encephalographic and endocrine' (manikin meee) in 'Under Old Earth' is another item which is obviously based on Chinese culture. The manikin, usually in the form of a bronze statue of naked male, is a traditional supplemental tool for Chinese medical practice and can be easily seen in a Chinese herbal store/clinic. It is marked with spots and lines which indicate the proper places for acupressure and acupuncture but does not have any function other than general illustration. Smith changes it into a system customised for a certain person, showing 'in miniaturized replica the entire diagnostic position of the patient for whom they were fashioned'[20].
Smith himself reveals that the story 'Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons' is 'a re-telling of part of Ali Baba and the forty thieves'[21], though readers have to be more careful to find out that the battle of wits between Mother Hitton and Benjacomin Bozart is based on the Morgiana's confrontation of the robber captain. But I think that the 'Littul Kittons' is based on a folklore in the southwest area of China -- the practice of 蠱 'gu'. It could be regarded as a sort of black magic or even 'voodoo' for better understanding. So-called 'gu' is a kind of human-bred poisonous creature; the most well-known method to breed it is to collect five sorts of venomous animal/insect: snake, spider, scorpion, toad, and centipede, put them together, starve them, let them eat one another, and then the sole survivor is called 'gu'. People believe that it is the most poisonous one so that it has some mysterious power other than its venom. Although the littul kittons are actually minks, they have a similar characteristic:
The last Chinese setting in Smith's stories I would like to discuss concerns about the traditional Chinese ideology, Confucianism. It is the appearance of 'Jwindz'. There are two images of Jwindz in Smith's stories; one is the antagonists of 'The Queen of the Afternoon', the other is the people who live in the City of Hopeless Hope in 'On the Sand Planet'. Both groups call themselves 'the perfect ones', but what their deeds are quite different. The former are Chinesian philosophers who become the true ruler of the Earth; they tranquillise people with drugs in order to make it easier to govern, therefore the protagonists, Laird, his Vomact wives and others, are planning to overthrow them. There are not many descriptions about the latter ones; they just live there and give advice to Casher O'Neill. Though it might sound weird, it is true that both images could be originated from Chinese 君子 'chun-tzu' (jun-zi in Pinyin) in spite of Anthony R. Lewis's doubt that whether the word has connection to the Djinn or not[23].
In Chinese language, the term 'chun-tzu' has two main meanings: the first one is an upright man with virtues; the other is plainly a government leader. And in discussion of Confucianism, Linebarger himself is aware of both definitions and Confucius's ideology:
The narration of Jwindz in 'On the Sand Planet' contains further information of the Confucianism background, such as the name Jwindz themselves use for their own city -- Jwindz Jo. It is 'in memory of the ancient rule of the Jwindz, which somewhere once obtained upon old Earth'[26]. Lewis interprets the rule of Jwindz as the Jwindz government in 'The Queen of the Afternoon'[27], but I suspect that Smith would make his 'good Jwindz' commemorate such a tyranny. According to the name 'Jwindz Jo', this memorised figure should be 周公 'the Duke of Chou' (Chou is in Wade-Giles, and Zhou in Pinyin), whose perfect government system is what Confucius devotes himself to seek for. Here is Linebarger's description of the government under this Duke:
Another less important but still interesting information of the Jwindz is that the one who replies to Casher O'Neill is the 'heaviest' among them. It is actually another Smith's word play. The chapter eight in Book One of The Analects says,
Linebarger codifies the most obvious characteristics of Chinese politics inherited from the past, i.e. the bureaucracy of Confucianism:
The intermingling of legislative, executive, and judicial power is the most obvious feature we can observe in Smith's writing about the Lords, especially their jurisdiction. In the past, a good Chinese chief of local government (mayor, governor or chief of a county) not only had to dedicate himself to people's welfare but also had to well perform the duties of a judge. In fact, the government officials had the complete control of the entire system from investigation to execution, and thus their power is extreme enormous. In his The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson's sarcastic depiction of Judge Fang somehow vividly explains 'the Confucian system of justice': 'the general idea is that as judge [in fact it should be every chief official of local government], I actually perform several roles at once: detective, judge, jury, and if need be, executioner.'[33] The Lords actually play the same role in Smith's stories. In the trial of 'The Dead Lady of Clown Town', the Lords and Ladies have the full responsibility for the death sentences of the underpeople; the Lords also use the Bell and the Bank to investigate the truth of C'mell's accusation during the summons in 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell'.
The rule of Lords is in fact a government of men. There are various regulations and taboos which people and underpeople have to conform to, but the staffs of Instrumentality still have the freedom to make decisions. We can see that Lords hold different opinions on a particular issue as well. 'The Instrumentality does the things for mankind that a computer can not do. The Instrumentality leaves the human brain, the human choice in action.'[34] Besides, the concept that the humanity is superior exists ideologically and ethically in the society, thus keeps the status quo more difficult to break. If we follow Alan C. Elms's conclusion that the oppressed Chinese people can be the political and historical origin for Smith to create his underpeople[35], it could also support my hypothesis. The revolution led by Sun, Yat-sen overthrew the Manchu dynasty; however, the Chinese Nationalists do not abandon the Confucian bureaucracy but try to integrate it with the modern western political system. In the ideology education of secondary school, students are even taught that Sun-Yat-senism is the most recent orthodox follower of Confucianism. On the other hand, in Smith's future history, the liberalisation of underpeople does not affect the political situation; the Lords still govern the Instrumentality.
Maybe Smith's own words self-explain the whole thing.
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[1] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Prologue' in Space Lords, p. 10.
[2] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, p. 416.
[3] Lo, Kuan-chung, San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, trans. by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor, vol. 1, (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1925), p. 74.
[4] Elms, Alan C., 'Between Mottile and Ambiloxi: Cordwainer Smith as a Southern Writer' in Extrapolation, vol. 42 no. 2, (2001), pp. 124-136 (p. 132).
[5] See Elms, 'Introduction' in Smith, Norstrilia, p. x.
[6] Smith, Cordwainer, 'When the People Fell' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 119-128 (p. 127).
[7] Ibid, p. 128.
[8] See Pierce, John J., 'Mr. Forest of Incandescent Bliss: a Profile of Paul Linebarger -- Wordsmith Extraordinary', p. 6.
[9] See Elms, 'The Creation of Cordwainer Smith', p. 267.
[10] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Western Science Is So Wonderful' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 617-627 (p. 625).
[11] Ibid., p. 620.
[12] Ibid., p. 621.
[13] Ibid., p. 622.
[14] See McGuirk, Carol, 'The Rediscovery of Cordwainer Smith', p. 197.
[15] See Lewis, Anthony R., Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 72.
[16] See Kentucky Educational Television, 'Apicius', Famous Romans (2004) http://www.dl.ket.org/latinlit/historia/people/apicius/apicius.htm [accessed 1 August 2004]
[17] Smith, Cordwainer, 'From Gustible's Planet' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 187-192 (p. 190).
[18] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Golden the Ship Was -- Oh! Oh! Oh!' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 215-221 (p. 218).
[19] See Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Fife of Bodidharma' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 641-647 (p. 641).
In my opinion, Smith's quote (or his own translation?) contains a little bit more translator's interpretation. As a matter of fact, this chapter is the sequence of studying Confucius had suggested. 詩經 Book of Poetry (music in Smith's quotation), 禮記 Record of Rite (propriety) and 樂經 Book of Music (melody) are among the six classics of Confucianism, however, Book of Music was lost, therefore there are only five classics remaining.
[20] Smith, 'Under Old Earth' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 289-353 (p. 300)
[21] Smith, 'Prologue' in Space Lords, p. 9.
[22] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 355-374 (p. 368)
[23] See Lewis, Anthony R., Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 85.
[24] Linebarger, Paul M. A., Djang Chu and Ardath W. Burks, Far Eastern Governments and Politics: China and Japan (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1954), pp. 26-27.
[25] See Linebarger, Paul M. A., Government in Republican China (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1938), pp. 13-30.
[26] Smith, Cordwainer, 'On the Sand Planet', in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 541-566 (p. 557).
[27] See Lewis, 'Rule of the Jwindz' entry in Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 135.
[28] Linebarger, op. cit., p. 127.
[29] See Hellekson, Karen L., The Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2001), p. 15.
[30] Confucius, The Analects, trans. by Raymond Dawson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 4.
[31] Linebarger, Paul M. A., Djang Chu and Ardath W. Burks, op. cit., p. 43.
[32] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Queen of the Afternoon', in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 41-63 (p. 57).
[33] Stephenson, Neal, The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (New York: Bantam Books, 1996), p. 40.
[34] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 201-214 (p. 211).
[35] See Elms, Alan C., 'Origins of the Underpeople: Cats, Kuomintang and Cordwainer Smith' in Tom Shippey ed., Essays and Studies 1990: Fictional Space: Essays on Contemporary Science Fiction (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 166-193 (pp. 172-181).
[36] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Golden the Ship Was -- Oh! Oh! Oh!' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 215-221 (p. 219).
→ Chapter 4: The Game of Human Nonhumans
Chapter Three: The Romance of Jwindz's Kingdom
In this chapter, the Chinese backgrounds in Cordwainer Smith's short fictions are discussed. There are quite a few instances. Some are easy to detect; some are converted and hidden and more difficult to discover. One has been revealed by previous scholars, and a particular one is acknowledged by Smith himself. Hence I would like to start from it.
In the 'Prologue' of his collection Space Lords, Smith reveals that
"The Ballad of Lost C'mell" – ... – was rather loosely inspired by some of the magical and conspiratorial scenes in The Romance of Three Kingdoms, published by Lo Kuan-chung [羅貫中 Luo, Guan-Zhong in Pinyin] in the early 1300s.[1]I could not find any magical scenes in this Chinese novel which might match the incident that later leads to the initiative freedom of the underpeople, but as for the conspiratorial part, I am quite sure it is derived from the plot in chapter eight to nine of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms, due to the fact that both secret plans are concerning a femme fatale.
However, these two schemes vary in many ways. In 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell', Lord Jestocost and E'telekeli plan to bring C'mell to a summons. By taking advantage of her naivety and innocence, they make other Lords investigate evidences through the Bell as C'mell alleges that some inter-world crimes had taken place, hence E'telekeli can use telepathy to locate 'a list of checkpoints and escape routes which would make it easier to hide from the capricious sentence of painless death which human authorities meted out'[2], and thus save a great number of underpeople's lives. Of course, C'mell's good performance in the court is so persuasive that other Lords start to operate the Bell and the Bank, and thus gives an opportunity for E'telekeli, whose consciousness takes control of her body to perform the main job. But the entire conspiracy has little to do with C'mell's characteristics of being a girlygirl. While in the famous 連環計 'Chain Scheme' in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the heroine's allurement is extremely critical to the whole conspiracy. Take a look of the dialogue between the plotter, Governor 王允 Wang, Yun and the household singing girl, 貂蟬 Tiaoch'an (Diao-Chan in Pinyin) or Sable Cicada, in which Wang analyses the situation and reveals the intrigue:
Said he [Wang, Yun], "you can sympathise with the people of 漢 Han," and the fount of his tears opened afresh.Sable Cicada does raise the conflict between the father and the son; both of whom start a conflict because of their lust for her, and Tung is assassinated by Lu later in the story. Although the sovereignty of the Han Emperor is still not recovered, this scheme could be considered successful to a certain degree. The girl Sable Cicada is mightier than the union of eighteen warlords, since even their united army could not defeat Tung. Another significant feature appears in the Smith's story but not in the Chinese counterpart. Lord Jestocost and C'mell are fond of each other, however, their love is forbidden and both characters do not reveal their affections; while Lo Kuan-chung does not write about the love between Wang, Yun and Sable Cicada; there might be one, but the readers will never know.
"As I said just now, use me in any way; I will never shrink," said the girl.
Wang Yun knelt saying, "The people are on the brink of destruction, the prince and his officers are in jeopardy, and you, you are the only saviour. That wretch Tung Cho [董卓 Dong, Zhuo in Pinyin] wants to depose the Emperor and not a man among us can find means to stop him. Now he has a son, a bold warrior it is true, but both father and son have a weakness for beauty and I am going to use what I may call the "chain" plan. I shall first propose you in marriage to Lu Pu [呂布 Lu, Bu in Pinyin] and then, after you are betrothed, I shall present you to Tung Cho and you will take every opportunity to force them asunder and turn away their countenances from each other, cause the son to kill his adopted father and so put an end to the great evil. Thus you may restore the altars of the land that it may live again. All this lies within your power; will you do it?”[3]
Alan C. Elms claims that 'the several stories of Quest of the Three Worlds borrow lightly from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms'[4] in one of his essays in Extrapolation in 2001; actually, he has made this assertion in his introduction to the NESFA edition of Norstrilia, where he mistakes the title of this Chinese novel as Quest of the Three Kingdoms[5]. Elms's confidence might lie in the titles of both works: Smith's 'three worlds' is corresponding to Lo's 'three kingdoms'. However, in my opinion, the connection of these two is rather weak. Casher O'Neill's adventures in these three stories are narrated one after another, and there are not further interactions between these three planets except O'Neill himself. On the contrary, the plots of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms are much more complicated. It narrates the confrontations between warlords of Han Dynasty from the late second century; after several decades there were still three remaining, and each of them became an independent kingdom (empire would be more suitable since the leaders are crowned as 'emperors'). Such an enormous historical setting consists hundreds of characters and themes, and it is necessary for the author to switch back and forth between the subplots even in one chapter.
The only link between these two works may be the identities of protagonists. Casher O'Neill is a nephew to Kuraf, the ex-ruler of the sand planet Mizzer. After Colonel Wedder overthrew his uncle's reign and became a tyrant, O'Neill always seeks for 'justice'. Finally he obtains the knowledge and ability of Agatha Madigan from T'ruth, faces Wedder and does not kill but 'changes' him instead. But from there he finds out his true destination and goes on a religious journey to the Quel of the Thirteenth Nile. On the other hand, 劉備 Liu, Pei (Liu, Bei in Pinyin), one of the main characters in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, devotes himself to a mission somewhat similar to O'Neill's. Liu is usually respected as 'Uncle of the Emperor', and his wish is to recover the imperial power and reintegrate the empire which has been dismembered by various warlords. But all he could achieve in his entire life is to control one fourth of the land and oppose two other kingdoms. Otherwise, it is difficult to connect Quest of the Three Worlds to the Chinese novel.
'When the People Fell' is probably the one among Smith's stories whose Chinese background can be detected by readers the most easily. Not only because Smith himself uses several Chinese terms such as 'Goonhogo', 'nondies', 'needies', 'showhices' and 'loudies' with explanations, but also due to the fact that this story is about Chinese or 'Chinesian' people. This story narrates the Chinese invasion of Venus in a special way. The government dropped eighty-two million people, no matter male, female or children, down to the land of Venus in a single day. '[I]t wouldn't have mattered if seventy million of them had died. Twelve million survivors would have been enough to make a spacehead for the Goonhogo.'[6] Taking advantage of enormous popularity in the war could be a fixed image of China. However, it is in fact a kind of tragedy, for the reason that human lives are thus expendable.
The Chinese had been suffered from invasions and civil wars since the second half of the nineteenth century. Even though the 清 Qing Emperor was overthrown in 1912, the situation could be even worse. The entire nation was never under the control of a single official government but dismembered by warlords. The conflicts between the Nationalists and Communists plus the continuous invasions of Japan prevent the country from being developed. For the Chinese, the Second World War started on the seventh of July 1937, the time when Chinese troops fought against the Japanese at Marco Polo Bridge. To confront a newly rising military power, China could depend only on her massive territory and the largest population in the world. Both factors entangled Japanese armies so that the Chinese is able to wait until the United States defeated their enemy on the Pacific Ocean. This strategy certainly cost very much. Besides his family's deep connection to Chinese politics, Paul Linebarger spent a great part of his youth in China, and he himself participated in World War II in China again, all these extraordinary experiences make him not only be aware of China's crises and the ordeals of Chinese people but also have sympathy for them. So a great portion of the descriptions in this story very possibly come from Smith's personal observation during the war. And he knows pretty well that this sacrifice, though it is 'crazy and impossible', is the only means for China to win, even when in an invasion. However, he also points out one of the astonishing defects of Chinese people right after the terrible victory:
... We went to the door and said to him [a Chinesian male] in English, 'What are you building here, a shelter or a hospital?'In one way, it reflects that the Chinese like gambling very much, but on the other hand, maybe in Linebarger's eyes, the Chinese have suffered too much to care about their own lives, and would like to gamble with them on an improbable better future; a sorrowful phenomenon exists in the people whose life standard is below average.
"The Chinesian grinned at us. 'No,' he said, 'gambling.'
"Vomact wouldn't believe it: 'Gambling?'
"'Sure,' said the nondie. 'Gambling is the first thing a man needs in a strange place. It can take the worry out of his soul.'"[7]
It is worth noticing that this topic can easily become a sort of 'Yellow Peril' writing even though Smith is unlikely to build the story in this way. Since an invasion with unarmed but massive population is almost impossible to defend; the invaded countries cannot kill them all for the sake of humanity, and then they are soon to be conquered for sure. Chinese writer 保密 Bao Mi's (a pen name which means 'confidential') 黃禍 The Yellow Peril (1991), a political prediction novel in respond to Tian-An-Men Massacre in 1989, has such a theme after China had been nuked. Hundreds of millions of Chinese refugees swarm into other counties via land or sea; the globe is completely swallowed.
Of course, Cordwainer Smith does not compose sad stories only. He also writes in a satirical tone to make fun or criticise attitudes and customs of Chinese people. There are two examples of parody in his science fiction. The first I would like to discuss is 'Western Science Is So Wonderful', a standalone short story unrelated to The Instrumentality of Mankind. There is a Martian/Demon/Arhat in the southwest of China making every effort to learn Western science. And this story depicts his second encounter with a German Russian and some Chinese communists. It is obvious that Smith here is making fun of the 'commies', such as the Martian's transformation into Chairman Mao's appearance and the reaction of both the Russian officer Farrer and the Party Secretary Kungsun after they heard that the Martian would like to join the Chinese Communist Party. It is for sure that Linebarger acquainted himself with Communism pretty well, though he always chose the other side to support the Nationalists. According to John J. Pierce, Linebarger had once had 'radical leanings' while the Nationalists still cooperated with the Communists; and his father just gave him a birthday trip to Leningrad to stop his sympathetic feeling to Communism[8]. During the Second World War, when Linebarger worked as the US Army's liaison with the Chinese secret service, he also visited the headquarters of the Communists and made friends with their leaders[9]. In spite of teasing the communists, to me the descriptions of Chinese characters, especially their attitudes to the western science and ideology (it is exact Communism here) are more interesting.
The Martian represents those who had witnessed the 'incredible power' of anything from 'advanced countries' and would like to learn more, but they do not know that the technology or skill they had seen could be trivial; what is more, they might disapprove of what they have, even if it is better than what they are pursuing. In the story, he is attracted by merely an American lighter and seeks for chances 'to learn all about Western science'[10]. But just like Kungsun points out, the Martian cannot help but keep changing shapes. This behaviour can not only ruin the morale of any class, like what Kungsun has said, but also shows that the Martian lacks the concentration and diligence for learning, which is not expressed in the story. At last the Martian does go to the United States but only changes into a gold milk truck self-driving all around; certainly he achieves nothing about science.
Comrade Captain Li is another image of ordinary people. They do not have great ambition, nor do they become the defender of ideology. They are just simple. All they seek is a steady life, and if there is a possibility to shirk their duties a little bit, it could be even better. Take Li for example, 'Two square meals a day and an endless succession of patriotic farm girls, preferably chubby ones, represented his view of a wholly liberated China'[11]. To him, it does not matter who the boss is, what the ideology is appointed to believe, he just wants to be a small captain, and what is more, it is 'safer'. This mindset is held by most of the Chinese people, since in the long history of China, only in a few short periods the masses could live a prosperous life, so that they always look coldly at the rise and decline of the ones, say emperors, generals, nationalists, and communists, who promise to fulfil this wish at first but corrupt themselves soon after holding the power.
Party Secretary Kungsun is still another stereotype. In imperial China, these people are intellectuals looking for opportunities to become scholar officials. A great number of them are very typical snobs. They look down on the general masses and people from lower classes like Comrade Captain Li, but try very hard to please those who are superior to them with awe. Readers can observe this from Kungsun's first reaction when he sees the Martians in disguise of Chairman Mao:
He said in a very weak, strained, incredulous voice, "Mr. Party Chairman Mao, I never though that we would see you here in these hills, or are you you, and if you aren't you, who are you?"[12] (my emphasis)Kungsun is somewhat better than some of his kind because in such a situation, he still has his wits to deal with the difficulty. It is also the wits that he is able to persuade the Martian to the States and end the whole incident. However, Smith describes him carefully enough, so the reader can also witness another major defect of the Chinese -- to push his own responsibility to others:
"I think this wang-pa is a counter-revolutionary impostor," he [Kungsun] said weakly, "but I don't know what to do about him. I am glad that the Chinese People's Republic has a representative from the Soviet Union to instruct us in difficult party procedure."[13]Carol McGuirk thinks that this story and 'When the People Fell' are 'the stories that most directly consider China under communism' and reflect Smith's upset about the Chinese Communists' defeat of Nationalists[14]. Communism elements indeed add a certain fun in 'Western Science Is So Wonderful', and the Chinesian invasion might have a link to Korean War (though there were no women and children sent to Korea); but in my opinion, these two stories present more characteristics of the nation China and her citizens. Even if there are no Chinese communists, similar plots might keep on taking place.
Though the Instrumentality appears in 'From Gustible's Planet', it is more adequate to treat it as a standalone moral drama. The sarcasm in this comic story is quite straightforward. The Apicians, an alien race who are originated from Gustible's planet and look like enormous ducks, come to Earth as freeloaders. They happily consume all kinds of delicious food, and take advantage of human beings with their special telepathic power to freeze people. There are Roman connections with gourmets: the word 'gustible' has its root in Latin 'gustis', which means 'taste'[15], and 'Apician' comes from 'Apicius', a famous Roman name held by three people, the most noted one is Marcus Gavius Apicius, a glutton who left cookbooks and recipes to later generation[16]. However, the consequence of Apicians is definite Chinese. While the Apicians enjoy lady Ch'ao's (a Chinese descendent) feast in a traditional Chinese pavilion, a tragedy happens. The whole building is on fire; all the aliens escape but their leader Schmeckst.
The fire had finished Schmeckst. Not a feather remained on him. And then the flash fire, because of the peculiar dryness of the bamboo and the paper and the thousands upon thousands of candles, had baked him.[17]The operator of the live telescreen broadcasting turns on the smell-control, and people all over the world again discover the flavoursome roast duck. Only one day later, almost all of the Apicians on Earth are cooked as dishes from various cultures. The remained are so scared that they abandon their relationship with humanity and close their own planet. The reason why Smith uses roast duck as a trigger in this story is very possible that it is a notable dish in China. Actually, each area has its own flavour, but those of Peking (Beijing) and Nanking (Nanjing) are most famous. Linebarger had lived in both cities for a while, and he must have tasted and favoured roast duck there so that he would like to bring it into his story. The introduction to the character Prince Lovaduck in 'Golden the Ship was -- Oh! Oh! Oh!' expresses the love of Peking duck, too:
Prince Lovaduck had obtained his odd name because he had had a Chinesian ancestor who did love ducks, ducks in their Peking form -- succulent duck skins brought forth to him ancestral dreams of culinary ecstasy.[18]
Smith uses miscellaneous settings with Chinese background as well. Unlike the Chinese elements I have discussed before, these settings have little to do with the main plots, but still provide an amazing and mysterious atmosphere, adding intrigues or interests to the stories.
The one readers can tell from the story title is 'The Fife of Bodidharma'. Smith even adds a translation of a chapter from 論語 The Analects (Lun Yu) to intensify the Chinese flavour: 'Music (said Confucius) awakens the mind, propriety finishes it, melody completes it' (Smith's emphasis)[19], even though it is unrelated to the plot. The Chinese element here is 達摩 Bodidharma, the first ancestor of the School of Chinese Zen Buddhism. In fact, Bodidharma is not a Chinese but Buddhist monk from South India. He arrived in China around 520 AD. There are several legends about Bodidharma, including his interview with 梁武帝 the Wu Emperor of Liang Dynasty, crossing Yangtze River by standing on merely one reed, meditation against a wall for as long as nine years, and being the first kung-fu master of 少林寺 Shaolin Temple (not in real history but in popular emprise world). However, none of these tales depict that Bodidharma owns a fife artefact. Therefore it is probably Smith's creation.
The 'manikin, electro-encephalographic and endocrine' (manikin meee) in 'Under Old Earth' is another item which is obviously based on Chinese culture. The manikin, usually in the form of a bronze statue of naked male, is a traditional supplemental tool for Chinese medical practice and can be easily seen in a Chinese herbal store/clinic. It is marked with spots and lines which indicate the proper places for acupressure and acupuncture but does not have any function other than general illustration. Smith changes it into a system customised for a certain person, showing 'in miniaturized replica the entire diagnostic position of the patient for whom they were fashioned'[20].
Smith himself reveals that the story 'Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons' is 'a re-telling of part of Ali Baba and the forty thieves'[21], though readers have to be more careful to find out that the battle of wits between Mother Hitton and Benjacomin Bozart is based on the Morgiana's confrontation of the robber captain. But I think that the 'Littul Kittons' is based on a folklore in the southwest area of China -- the practice of 蠱 'gu'. It could be regarded as a sort of black magic or even 'voodoo' for better understanding. So-called 'gu' is a kind of human-bred poisonous creature; the most well-known method to breed it is to collect five sorts of venomous animal/insect: snake, spider, scorpion, toad, and centipede, put them together, starve them, let them eat one another, and then the sole survivor is called 'gu'. People believe that it is the most poisonous one so that it has some mysterious power other than its venom. Although the littul kittons are actually minks, they have a similar characteristic:
Generations of them had been bred psychotic to the bone. They lived only to die and they died so that they could stay alive. These were the kittons of Norstrilia. Animals in whom fear, rage, hunger, and sex were utterly intermixed; who could eat themselves or each other; who could eat their young, or people, or anything organic; ...[22]Besides the species of creature, Smith turns the feature of venom into psychosis, which may have another connection to his own specialty. Of course 'gu' can be used to poison people, but it is not the main function. In usual cases, the object of 'gu' practice is to control the victim. It could be direct control via 'gu', or the 'gu' makes the victim suffer or threatened, forcing them yield to the practitioner. On the other hand, Mother Hitton collects the telepathic communications of awakened kittons, amplifies them, and projects them to the target's brain. This mental shock kills Bozart several minutes later, just in a similar way of Rod McBan's brainbomb.
The last Chinese setting in Smith's stories I would like to discuss concerns about the traditional Chinese ideology, Confucianism. It is the appearance of 'Jwindz'. There are two images of Jwindz in Smith's stories; one is the antagonists of 'The Queen of the Afternoon', the other is the people who live in the City of Hopeless Hope in 'On the Sand Planet'. Both groups call themselves 'the perfect ones', but what their deeds are quite different. The former are Chinesian philosophers who become the true ruler of the Earth; they tranquillise people with drugs in order to make it easier to govern, therefore the protagonists, Laird, his Vomact wives and others, are planning to overthrow them. There are not many descriptions about the latter ones; they just live there and give advice to Casher O'Neill. Though it might sound weird, it is true that both images could be originated from Chinese 君子 'chun-tzu' (jun-zi in Pinyin) in spite of Anthony R. Lewis's doubt that whether the word has connection to the Djinn or not[23].
In Chinese language, the term 'chun-tzu' has two main meanings: the first one is an upright man with virtues; the other is plainly a government leader. And in discussion of Confucianism, Linebarger himself is aware of both definitions and Confucius's ideology:
The Confucian ideal of good government put great emphasis on the personal character of the ruler rather than on the legal system on which the structure of government was built. Law and order were supposed to be enforced not by external compulsion but by inner discipline. In order to achieve good government it was necessary for the ruling class to lead an exemplary life for the common people to follow. The standard of chun-tzu was set up for the entire scholar-gentry class. They should represent the highest type of morally integrated individuals upon whom both political and social responsibilities were to fall.[24]Linebarger also spends a whole chapter to introduce Confucianism and its influence in Chinese history in his book Government in Republican China[25]. However, this ideal is far from the actual political situation in Chinese history. There are always real chun-tzus who later become outstanding statesmen, but on the other hand, corrupted government officials are much more for sure, and the masses thus directly suffer from their misrule. And that could be the source of the image of Jwindz in 'The Queen of the Afternoon'.
The narration of Jwindz in 'On the Sand Planet' contains further information of the Confucianism background, such as the name Jwindz themselves use for their own city -- Jwindz Jo. It is 'in memory of the ancient rule of the Jwindz, which somewhere once obtained upon old Earth'[26]. Lewis interprets the rule of Jwindz as the Jwindz government in 'The Queen of the Afternoon'[27], but I suspect that Smith would make his 'good Jwindz' commemorate such a tyranny. According to the name 'Jwindz Jo', this memorised figure should be 周公 'the Duke of Chou' (Chou is in Wade-Giles, and Zhou in Pinyin), whose perfect government system is what Confucius devotes himself to seek for. Here is Linebarger's description of the government under this Duke:
The Duke of Chou, who lived in the eleventh century B. C., seems to have done most in founding the system which later ages called Confucian -- after Confucius had reformed it, clarified it, and given it ethical stature. ... He is finally credited with the authorship of several important treatises. He has served as the archetype of intellectual statesmanship in Chinese legend.[28]The information that 'The Queen of the Afternoon' is in fact finished by Genevieve Linebarger[29] could be a tricky clue, since there is a possibility that Mrs Linebarger interpret Jwindz in a different way.
Another less important but still interesting information of the Jwindz is that the one who replies to Casher O'Neill is the 'heaviest' among them. It is actually another Smith's word play. The chapter eight in Book One of The Analects says,
The Master [Confucius] said: "If the gentleman [the translation of chun-tzu] is not grave, then he does not inspire awe. If he studies, then he is not inflexible.[30]The adjective 'grave' is translated from its meaning. But according to the original Chinese character, it also has the senses of 'heavy' or 'weighty'. Therefore the heaviest one of all the Jwindz is the stateliest one, who can represent all the other Jwindz to have dialogue with O'Neill.
Linebarger codifies the most obvious characteristics of Chinese politics inherited from the past, i.e. the bureaucracy of Confucianism:
a government of men,After examining Smith's various descriptions of the Instrumentality of Mankind, I find out that there are a number of similarities between the rule of Lords and the traditional Chinese politics. Therefore I come to a bold hypothesis: the Lords of the Instrumentality could be 'chun-tzus' in Smith's view even though it is explicitly expressed that the Instrumentality is established to replace Jwindz's tyranny and work 'for the service of man'[32].
a politics of ethics and not of law,
intermingling of the legislative, executive, and judicial power, and
implicit emphasis on the ideological power of government.[31]
The intermingling of legislative, executive, and judicial power is the most obvious feature we can observe in Smith's writing about the Lords, especially their jurisdiction. In the past, a good Chinese chief of local government (mayor, governor or chief of a county) not only had to dedicate himself to people's welfare but also had to well perform the duties of a judge. In fact, the government officials had the complete control of the entire system from investigation to execution, and thus their power is extreme enormous. In his The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson's sarcastic depiction of Judge Fang somehow vividly explains 'the Confucian system of justice': 'the general idea is that as judge [in fact it should be every chief official of local government], I actually perform several roles at once: detective, judge, jury, and if need be, executioner.'[33] The Lords actually play the same role in Smith's stories. In the trial of 'The Dead Lady of Clown Town', the Lords and Ladies have the full responsibility for the death sentences of the underpeople; the Lords also use the Bell and the Bank to investigate the truth of C'mell's accusation during the summons in 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell'.
The rule of Lords is in fact a government of men. There are various regulations and taboos which people and underpeople have to conform to, but the staffs of Instrumentality still have the freedom to make decisions. We can see that Lords hold different opinions on a particular issue as well. 'The Instrumentality does the things for mankind that a computer can not do. The Instrumentality leaves the human brain, the human choice in action.'[34] Besides, the concept that the humanity is superior exists ideologically and ethically in the society, thus keeps the status quo more difficult to break. If we follow Alan C. Elms's conclusion that the oppressed Chinese people can be the political and historical origin for Smith to create his underpeople[35], it could also support my hypothesis. The revolution led by Sun, Yat-sen overthrew the Manchu dynasty; however, the Chinese Nationalists do not abandon the Confucian bureaucracy but try to integrate it with the modern western political system. In the ideology education of secondary school, students are even taught that Sun-Yat-senism is the most recent orthodox follower of Confucianism. On the other hand, in Smith's future history, the liberalisation of underpeople does not affect the political situation; the Lords still govern the Instrumentality.
Maybe Smith's own words self-explain the whole thing.
The Lords of the Instrumentality were the corrupt rulers of a corrupt world, but they had learned to make corruption serve their civil and military ends, and they were in no mind to put up with failures.[36]In the ideal conditions, the Lords and the 'chun-tzu' are upright people with virtues, so that they can wisely rule; however, in most cases, these Lords only meet the second meaning of 'chun-tzu', being corruptible government leaders. From such a point of view, the stories of the Instrumentality of Mankind could somehow be regarded as 'the Romance of Jwindz's Kingdom'.
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[1] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Prologue' in Space Lords, p. 10.
[2] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Ballad of Lost C'mell' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, p. 416.
[3] Lo, Kuan-chung, San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, trans. by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor, vol. 1, (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1925), p. 74.
[4] Elms, Alan C., 'Between Mottile and Ambiloxi: Cordwainer Smith as a Southern Writer' in Extrapolation, vol. 42 no. 2, (2001), pp. 124-136 (p. 132).
[5] See Elms, 'Introduction' in Smith, Norstrilia, p. x.
[6] Smith, Cordwainer, 'When the People Fell' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 119-128 (p. 127).
[7] Ibid, p. 128.
[8] See Pierce, John J., 'Mr. Forest of Incandescent Bliss: a Profile of Paul Linebarger -- Wordsmith Extraordinary', p. 6.
[9] See Elms, 'The Creation of Cordwainer Smith', p. 267.
[10] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Western Science Is So Wonderful' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 617-627 (p. 625).
[11] Ibid., p. 620.
[12] Ibid., p. 621.
[13] Ibid., p. 622.
[14] See McGuirk, Carol, 'The Rediscovery of Cordwainer Smith', p. 197.
[15] See Lewis, Anthony R., Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 72.
[16] See Kentucky Educational Television, 'Apicius', Famous Romans (2004) http://www.dl.ket.org/latinlit/historia/people/apicius/apicius.htm [accessed 1 August 2004]
[17] Smith, Cordwainer, 'From Gustible's Planet' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 187-192 (p. 190).
[18] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Golden the Ship Was -- Oh! Oh! Oh!' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 215-221 (p. 218).
[19] See Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Fife of Bodidharma' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 641-647 (p. 641).
In my opinion, Smith's quote (or his own translation?) contains a little bit more translator's interpretation. As a matter of fact, this chapter is the sequence of studying Confucius had suggested. 詩經 Book of Poetry (music in Smith's quotation), 禮記 Record of Rite (propriety) and 樂經 Book of Music (melody) are among the six classics of Confucianism, however, Book of Music was lost, therefore there are only five classics remaining.
[20] Smith, 'Under Old Earth' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 289-353 (p. 300)
[21] Smith, 'Prologue' in Space Lords, p. 9.
[22] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 355-374 (p. 368)
[23] See Lewis, Anthony R., Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 85.
[24] Linebarger, Paul M. A., Djang Chu and Ardath W. Burks, Far Eastern Governments and Politics: China and Japan (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1954), pp. 26-27.
[25] See Linebarger, Paul M. A., Government in Republican China (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1938), pp. 13-30.
[26] Smith, Cordwainer, 'On the Sand Planet', in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 541-566 (p. 557).
[27] See Lewis, 'Rule of the Jwindz' entry in Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, p. 135.
[28] Linebarger, op. cit., p. 127.
[29] See Hellekson, Karen L., The Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2001), p. 15.
[30] Confucius, The Analects, trans. by Raymond Dawson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 4.
[31] Linebarger, Paul M. A., Djang Chu and Ardath W. Burks, op. cit., p. 43.
[32] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Queen of the Afternoon', in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 41-63 (p. 57).
[33] Stephenson, Neal, The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (New York: Bantam Books, 1996), p. 40.
[34] Smith, Cordwainer, 'The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 201-214 (p. 211).
[35] See Elms, Alan C., 'Origins of the Underpeople: Cats, Kuomintang and Cordwainer Smith' in Tom Shippey ed., Essays and Studies 1990: Fictional Space: Essays on Contemporary Science Fiction (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 166-193 (pp. 172-181).
[36] Smith, Cordwainer, 'Golden the Ship Was -- Oh! Oh! Oh!' in The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, pp. 215-221 (p. 219).
→ Chapter 4: The Game of Human Nonhumans
1 comment:
Thank you! I really like your commentaries on C. Smith. The depth of his Chinese references has always escaped me (except in a very narrow way).
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